Tag Archives: virus

Introduction

Information Technology companies and departments alike have always been plagued by a stigma; that if you need to call them, there is something seriously wrong with your network. It’s a bit like getting called to the principal’s office, and this feeling of trepidation is largely caused by a fear most technology companies experience, one that is quite validated.

No. Network. Is. Safe.

In the field of technology, it is an unpleasant and an inescapable fact. Security is of the utmost importance in modern technology and it is something often ignored because nobody wants to deal with it. But it is imperative that anyone working in this field not only understand how to safeguard their own network, but to understand the function and goals of malicious software (“malware”) that are designed to do harm to your network.

How Do Malicious Programs work?

An important step in understanding the function of these programs is to know that they are simply that-programs. On a conceptual level, a virus or malware program is not much different from any other program, except that it has outcomes that you do not want. Such software is designed to either damage, control, analyze, or influence the hardware or operating system that it targets. This can range from anything to encrypting files while awaiting a ransom to transmitting all the data from the target machine to a third party. These programs have a variety of sources, including but not limited to criminal corporations operating outside the purview of the law, single programmers attempting to make a quick buck, or the always infamous extremist group. When it comes to prevention, the source is not as important; what does matter is that attacks and infections on a network can be the single most costly issue a company will face. If a network suffers, for instance, a ransomware attack, no files, accounts, or data can be accessed on that network until the ransom is payed, and even then the data may still remain encrypted depending on the whim of the attacker.

How Can Malicious Programs affect my network?

There is an abundance of malicious software variations, due to the fact that these are as previously mentioned, simply programs, and thus can be unique in function and purpose, but for brevity’s sake we will cover some of the most important types of these programs. A relatively simple and common program is a trojan. A trojan’s purpose is reflective of its’ namesake, in that it pretends to be a legitimate or crucial piece of software to trick the user into downloading it, and upon installation hides itself inside the local files of the and then unleashes its’ “troops”. That is to say, it begins to do what it was designed to. This can mean everything from copying data, to deleting it. A new(er) type of malware that’s been making rounds lately is malvertising-(you can read our previous TechBits article on malvertising to get a much more in-depth description). Suffice it to say that malvertising uses internet ads to infect the target machine. Ransomware is software that encrypts all the data on a network and holds the de-encryption key for a ransom, though on occasion even paying the ransom will not coax the attacker into providing the de-encryption key. Though it’s important to know these types of malware, there are countless variants, and the variants are increasing at an alarming rate.

What Can I Do?

When people think of malware they often feel that they are safe with a single antivirus, firewall, or (and this will make your IT cringe) having a Mac because Apple products “don’t get viruses” (yes, they do). Whereas this can be enough for personal devices on a home network, the modern business cannot afford to use only a single source of malware protection. The most secure networks have layers upon layers of security and are very difficult to break through. On a more practical level, it is typically acceptable to have two layers: one passive one active. An “active” layer of protection would be like the anti-virus you are probably familiar with, something to actively scan files in your network to locate and quarantine dangerous programs until they can be properly disposed of. Passive protection is a little different. An example of passive technology would be a web filter. The Web Filter doesn’t necessarily actively search and root out malicious programs, but rather acts like a sieve and prevents many malicious programs from coming into contact with your network in the first place. Another source of protection that should be mentioned is Web Application Filters. Web Application Filters, or WAFs, monitor attempts from outside your network to gain access through applications that are Internet Facing (Such as web-based email, or self-hosted websites. It is not uncommon to see thousands of attempts per day of malicious actors attempting to gain access to a protected system through a web-based application.

A question anyone with an IT background has been asked at some point (and probably more than once) is this:

“What antivirus should I get?”

It’s an excellent question, there are many, many options for anti-virus/anti-malware software, some are free some are paid. An adage to consider is that “you get what you pay for” – we like to add the codicil, “if you are lucky” at the end. One option that we at Micro Systems currently suggest is WebRoot, which is a comprehensive anti-virus software that we often combine with the added protection of the commercial version of MalwareBytes. However, at the end of the day the choice for antivirus and malware protection will largely depend on your unique network environment.

Maybe you do everything right: you only go to websites you trust, you have updated antivirus and anti-malware programs, you use complex passwords, but you still deal with the occasional Internet annoyance, like pop-up or banner ads. Unavoidable and pesky, but part of the web-surfing territory, right? They’re annoying, but they don’t really get in your way. Why should you worry about them?

Even if you never click on them – I REPEAT – even if you don’t interact with them at all, they can infect your computer with malware – just by being displayed on your screen.

Here’s the problem.

You see, most websites innocently use ad services to create revenue – even websites you trust, like your favorite news site. The ad service will set up a certain number of ads in a rotation on the website. While many of the ads are harmless, sometimes an ad in the rotation will have invisible, malicious code embedded in it (without either the ad service or the website knowing about it). When your computer displays the ad, the evil, embedded code gets run on your computer, looks for any security “holes” it knows how to exploit, and downloads the right kind of malware for your particular vulnerability.

You won’t even know what hit you until, say, you find that your browser homepage has changed to a porn site or ransom page. And you were just trying to update your fantasy football league stats! Thankfully, there are some simple steps you can take which will greatly reduce your chances of falling prey to this type of attack.

Step 1: Update your web browser(s).

You’re probably reading this right now using an internet browser like Internet Explorer (or the new Microsoft Edge), Firefox, Safari, or Chrome. If you don’t know if you have the most current version of your browser, here are some directions for finding out. (It never hurts to double check!)

Step 3: Download good web browser protection programs.

If you’re using Firefox, Adblock Plus and NoScript are great browser extensions that will prevent most ads from displaying and will prevent a lot of “invisible” browser activity from happening. Malwarebytes also offers a good free version of its Anti-Exploit Kit (for personal use) that specifically defends against malvertising attacks.